Pleasure Slaves
by ViolentDelights13
Summary: On Hold.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This is CryBloodTears- I've just changed my name. I started this story when I was twelve- and then, I aged a year. Heh. I'm fixing things I didn't like, and hoping that it all pleases you a little more- condensing the chapters, is my main focus at the moment, and adding somethings that should be there. Please enjoy, and review to give me a little feedback. QUICK updates to come, I promise on all the flowers in the world.**

**Enjoy, dear friends.  
**

**Chapter One**

When you had eternity at your disposal, time seemed different. A day for others seemed like a moment to you. A year? Merely a day. You found that you didn't grow bored really, but that thoughts you had now had been thought before. Memories were relived the way humans watched movies- but you had your memories at your disposal.

The ingenious creation of Pleasure Slaves happened so long ago that no one really remembered the exact date. Of course, it happened much simpler than that.

Once upon a time, a vampire had fallen in love with a human. He loved her immensely, and was reluctant to turn her. He watched her grow older by the day, and the older he grew, the more frustrated he became. He had never been able to indulge physically with her. Kissing had been hard, in the beginning. He had never even kissed her with an open mouth.

Watching her one day, he grew so angry, that he did exactly what his tortured mind had begged him to do for years, expand their boundaries, and kiss her.

Venom was transferred from his mouth, into hers. Her organs absorbed it, and it reproduced quickly- but had restrictions. He watched as she began to change- not in the normal way vampires usually did. Her heart beat as strongly as it always had, and her skin remained flushed with blood. But she grew pale, and her eyes grew darker, and she turned into a beautiful creature.

He found that her aging process slowed, and eventually stopped. She was eternally living, in the full sense of the word. Not like he lacked his strength, his speed, and the need for blood. But she never grew sick.

The longer they both lived, the unhappier they both grew with each other. The novelty of their relationship had slowly worn away, until they found that they hated the sight of each other.

A simple solution, in his mind, was simply to kill her.

And he did.

Or, he tried. He attempted to drain her blood. But he found she was like a never ending fountain.

And Pleasure Slaves were born. Creatures who never grew sick, never needed blood, and could never die- but had a limitless amount of blood.

That was why I, Bella Swan, was here. I'd been told the story of how Pleasure Slaves were created many times, and I found it grew more and more macabre each time. I hoped that relationships weren't really like that, in the sense that when the novelty wore off, so did the affection, but I feared I would never find out. The only people I was surrounded with were other slaves like myself, and insane vampires.

But I found that I adapted to the situation well. I made friends with other slaves. Alice, Rosalie, and Esme had similar situations to mine, we were all taken directly from our homes by beautiful strangers, never to see or hear from our families again. We were all from American, unlike some of the exotic other slaves, but we found quickly that with our pale skin, we were exotic as well.

It was cruel, whenever we were selected by a different master. We satisfied their sexual needs, and gave them food in the process. Both things were painful, in different ways.

"Bella, my God, if you don't eat that pancake right now, I swear I'll take it and lick your plate clean myself."

I blinked back to reality.

"Take it- I don't understand how you can eat that much, Alice."

Alice rolled her brown eyes, stabbing the pancake with her fork, and gingerly moving it to her own porcelin plate.

"It's an easy concept Bella, eating. You open your mouth- like so-"

I covered my eyes with my hands, laughing. I really didn't need a front row view of her half chewed breakfast.

"Is Bella playing peek-a-boo?" I heard Esme's voice come from no where, and quickly uncovered my eyes sheepishly, a horrible blush staining my cheeks. She placed a motherly kiss on my hot cheek, before sitting down across from me, next to Alice.

"All by herself? It sounds like something only Bella could do," Rosalie's chimed in, and she took a seat next to me, reaching for a yellow apple. Her sleeve pulled up as she did, and I glimpsed a bloody half moon on her wrist, which I promptly passed off as nothing out of the ordinary.

It wasn't uncommon, to have wounds after satisfying a vampire master.

I ignored her remark, and chose to take a sip of my orange juice, and to study her face and body language in the process. Rosalie had been raped before being taken to Italy, and it had traumatized her. She struggled most emotionally after having sex with her masters.

Sure enough, I noticed she was dressed more carefully. Make-up she didn't need had probably been carefully applied, and her jewelry matched her clothing perfectly.

Looking good was her way of distracting herself.

"-just ignore her. She's been acting like that all day, spacing out. Her eyes look all deep. Thinking deep thoughts taxes her brain."

"Does not," I mumbled, standing from the table. I was actually looking at who had just entered the room. It was Derrick, my own current master. He was impatient, good looking, cruel, and doting all at the same time. He flashed me a smile from across the room, and motioned me to follow him out of the room.

I could see his eyes were dark with hunger.

"I'll see you all later," I said.

Alice turned in her seat, scoping out the room with quick eyes, spotting Derrick immediately.

"Be safe," she muttered to me. I nodded- it was all we could try to do. Minimize the damage.

I walked across the room that served as the salves own breakfast/lunch/dinner room. The other fifty or so slaves didn't take any notice of my presence.

I smiled as best as I could at Derrick, and hooked my arms through his gently. It was cold, even through the layers that they were both wearing.

We didn't need to speak. Derrick had been staying with the Volturi for many days, offering strategy tips on the gaurds' little missions. We had established a routine.

We walked to a secluded room (the ancient castle was full of them), and he unhooked his arm from mine, running his cold fingers along my arm towards my wrist, where he pulled up the sleeve, to my elbow.

My skin was marred with dozens of scars, some deeper than others, where vampires had cut open her flesh to lick the blood away from the inner flesh and bone.

He kissed my wrist briefly, a more intimate gesture than I was use to, before sinking pearly teeth into my skin. He sucked in deeply, and I could almost feel my blood being coaxed away from my heart and towards my wrist. My arteries constricted painfully, crying out for the lost blood. I didn't grow lightheaded.

After a while, he had fed fully, and let go of my wrist, wiping a hand across his mouth. He smiled, revealing bloody teeth, and placed a brutal kiss on my lips. I tasted my own blood- which was mostly similar to salt and water than anything else.

"Aro is expecting guests," he said, his voice crystal, and beautiful in a sinister way. "You aren't to get picked, Isabella, do you understand? I would hate to have to share you with another vampire."

"That's up to the guests," I sang out daringly, hoping to taunt him a little. It wasn't as if I could die. A little break in the monotony of my life was exciting.

He glowered.

"You would be very stupid to get picked."

"Where'd this dark mood come from, Derrick?" she asked, pushing the boundaries. She was required to call her master, Master.

His hand encircled her neck in a bruising grip, fingers digging into her flesh. His teeth were barred, and he looked so demonic that it scared her for a moment.

_I can't die_, she remembered. _I can't die, so there's nothing to be afraid of. But the pain._

He fed from her again, groaning in pleasure as her warm blood flowed down his needy throat. His hips surged against hers, and she could feel he was aroused. Tears pricked her eyes, and fell from the corners, as she clawed at his fingers, desperate for breath.

Eventually, she lost consciousness, and when she would awake again, slumped upon the floor of the room, with an aching neck and throbbing wrist, she would remember Derrick's warning.

_You would be very stupid to get picked._


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Every other day or so seems to be the pattern, methinks. This didn't flow like I liked, but you all wanted it, so thanks. Thanks to the reviews. The next chapter, I will be switching the way I tell the story, using first person narrative. It just makes things easier. **

**Enjoy.  
**

**Chapter Two**

"It's brilliant."

"It's stupid. It will get us killed!"

"We can't die, moron."

"It was a figure of _speech_, Alice!"

"Pretty stupid figure of _speech_ to me, Rose!"

"Hey- _Hey!_" Bella shouted, clapping her hands over her ears. "We are standing five feet from each other- no need to shout!"

They were in her bedroom (Aro was quite generous when it came to his slaves, or so he reminded them daily). Her bedroom was the best, in her opinion. It was decorated in gentle blues, the most calming color she could think of. The only downside was that her master was allowed in, anytime he wanted. Her wrist seemed to throb, the wound of Derrick's still very fresh...

Rosalie scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder, scowling blackly at Alice.

"Alice, you've been in trouble with Aro before, it isn't_ fun_, is it?"

"No, but it's worth it! Seeing the look on his face just before he really explodes is priceless Rosalie, I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"Girls, is there really a need to argue?" Esme asked tiredly, pulling on a pair of white shorts, that went merely to the middle of her thighs. They were all wearing identical pairs, with white shirts. It was the customary uniform for slaves, when visitors were still in the Choosing process.

The revealing clothing was so that their bodies were on display, any defects were easy to spot. Scars were highlighted especially.

"I can't help it if I worry for my sisters!" Rosalie cried, throwing herself down into one of her blue fluffy arm chairs, and crossing one pale leg over the other. She was barefoot. All of them were.

"The only person you ever worry about is yourself," Alice snapped, crossing her arms. A hurt expression flitted over Rosalie's face.

"Rose, she didn't mean that, you know it. You both are just angry," Bella said, playing damage control. Rosalie was sensitive to certain things, and Alice was always just boisterous and happy. They clashed on occasion.

Alice ran her fingers through her chin length hair, and pulled random strands straight up, so her hair was extremely messy.

"Alice, apologize," Bella hissed to her, trying to be inconspicuous.

Alice leaned to the right, just so she had Rosalie in her view.

"I'm sorry that you can't understand my need to have fun, Rose."

Groaning, Bella smacked Alice upside the head, mussing her hair, and turned at the sound of the soft knock on the door. A slave, just older than they all were, opened the door. Her black curls were her best feature.

"The guests are almost here, and Aro requests your presences," the girl mumbled.

The girls stood, feeling a little ominous. It was extremely hard to balance two masters, and with each of them (but Esme) already serving someone, things could get worse, very quickly.

As they were walking in the corridor, Alice's face lit up with a sinister grin, and she squirmed her way between Bella and Esme, walking twice as fast to keep up with their longer legs.

"Bella..."

"No," Bella answered. She didn't know what Alice wanted, but it was safe to say it could cause extreme discomfort.

"Please! We haven't had much fun in so long! I know you can't pass up such a good opportunity! Aro favors you, we all know it, he wouldn't punish you so much. Be my partner in crime."

Aro did show some favoritism, but that was something that could very easily be taken away. Sure, she had fun messing with her masters, but messing with the boss of everything in the vampire world? Well, that would be just stupid. Or fun. Or both.

"I'm in."

Alice squealed, wrapping her slender arms around Bella, and squeezing tightly.

"Oh Bella, that's why I love you- and I owe you, whatever you want, whenever you want!"

Bella smiled a little. She could really take advantage of that promise.

They'd come to double doors, which stood several feet taller than all of them, and had brass doorknobs. This was the room any and all Choosing took place in.

As she opened the door, she saw that they were one of the last arrivals, most of the other slaves already being in neat lines of ten, and only talking quietly with the people next to them, inquiring any information about the newcomers.

"How many, would you say, Alice?" Bella whispered, lingering by the doorway.

"Four. Definitely," Alice answered back. Everyone always joked and called Alice psychic. She didn't claim she was. She said she had gut feelings, and went with them.

And she'd never been wrong, before.

Bella did the math. There were about fifty of them. The chances of one of them being picked for another master was slim. Practically impossible.

"Wait- Alice- what are we doing, exactly?" Bella was referring to the plan with Aro.

"The usual. Defy Aro and his superiority, drag a few people down with us?"

Bella rose an eyebrow.

Alice grinned bashfully, and shrugged. "It sounded really good in my head."

Alice and Bella were quite separate in their lines. Alice stood in the front, because she was so short, and Bella was on the far right, towards the back of the lines. Today, they swapped spots. Giving each other quick thumbs up, they stood very straight, as the sound of echoing footsteps could be heard.

All of the slaves place their hands behind their backs. Left hand clenching right wrist. Bella shifted her grip slightly, so she didn't hurt her fresh wound- a reminder of Derricks warning, not to get picked.

She could hear Aro's jovial voice, briefing the newcomers on the whole Pleasure Slave situation. The man's constant happiness was usually quite sickening, but much better than when he was angry. He was actually quiet frightening, when he was angry.

The door was thrust open, and Aro's tall figure glided in, followed by four other vampires. Men.

Bella could almost hear Alice's satisfied squeal, in her mind. She'd been right about four new masters.

Two were blond, one looking very much older, perhaps mid twenties, it was so hard to tell with vampires. He was probably the coven leader. Age was the determining factor, with vampires it seemed.

One was tall, and heavily muscled. His hair was dark, curly. The last was her personal favorite. Tall, and almost lanky looking. Red looking hair, bronzy, that was mussed (perhaps a little too similar to Alice's).

They all had golden eyes. Bella had only seen golden eyes once before, on a coven from the Americas, and they had cracked their "no human blood" policy within the first few days. All vampires were the same, she had come to learn.

The older blond's hand was on Aro's shoulder, his eyes looking contrite.

"Aro, this is unnecessary. Me and my family do not need-"

Taking a deep breath, Bella went out on a limb, deciding throwing herself off the proverbial cliff now could probably save her from chickening out in the future.

"_Burn_," she hissed, shaking her head as though saddened. Bella heard Alice's small voice whispering from the back:

"_Re-jected!_" Drawing out the word into several syllables. The entire human population of the room seemed to hold their breath, not daring to turn their heads to watch the two girls.

Bella stared down at her bare feet, her pale toes, and watched Aro's feet draw closer and closer, until he stood right in front of her.

His foot jerked up swiftly, and landed on her toes with a nasty crunch, and Bella cried out in pain, jerking her foot away from Aro, so he couldn't injure it further. Hot tears burned at the corner of her eyes.

"You will learn proper respect Bella," Aro said, and his voice retained that sickly sweet sound it always had.

"Yes master?" Alice called from the back of the room. "Did you say my name?"

Bella caught onto the game quickly, and groaned into her shirt, regretting agreeing to Alice's wishes.

"No Alice-"

"Yes master?" Bella mumbled, loosing heart in the little game. _God help me_, she though.

"Both of you," he hissed. "Up here, _now!_"

The newcomers watched on curiously, the way humans do a car crash.

Alice skipped to the front of the room, and took her place by Bella. Bella was still staring at her injured toes, which were turning a light purple, and throbbing with her every heartbeat.

"_Look at me_."

The slaves looked up instantly, and saw almost a pleading look in Aro's eyes. These guests were important. Aro wanted to impress them. Surely, snapping their necks would be impressive- but he had the feelings his guests would not appreciate that display on power.

Both Alice and Bella managed to look contrite- Bella more so, since her feelings of regret were real, and Aro moved back towards the newcomers, content that this uprising was squashed in the bud.

"I do not need to remind you all how to properly respect your masters. Do you understand."

_Rhetorical question_, Bella thought pleadingly. _Oh God Aro, not a rhetorical question-_

But she found her mouth opening quickly, and both her and Alice shouted in unison a quick;

"Sir, yes sir!" And a swift salute was the finale.

Someone snorted in the far back, and she had a distinct feeling it was Rosalie. Esme groaned softly from across the room.

Aro looked furious.

"_Quiet!_" He hissed, all the honey previously in his voice having disappeared. "Rosalie! Esme- come join them, if you find it so.. _hilarious_."

Bella's heart sank somewhere down to the location of her stomach, the soft patter of bare feet on the floor echoing through the room as Esme and Rosalie came forward from their respective spots. The four of them stood in a row.

_The four..._

Horror filled Bella's heart and eyes as her head shot up to look at Aro again. His eyes were red, and slitted with anger. But she could sense the vindication of what he was about to do.

"Young ones- meet your masters."

For a brief moment, it was silent.

"There will be hell to pay!" Alice shouted suddenly, and the breath in Bella's throat caught. Alice wasn't this stupid! The game was over. Over. Rosalie and Esme were going to suffer for _their_ stupidity. "For poor Bella."

Bella managed to keep her head from snapping up (if she had kept that up, she would have a horrible headache for the rest of the day, _along _with broken toes.)

"Do indulge me Alice." It was a good sign. Aro was playing along, which meant he was genuinely curious. But Bella had no idea what Alice was going to say here. She couldn't possibly know about the threat Derrick had delivered to her earlier!

"I... I don't really know. I just feel it in my gut," Alice said, her voice growing more determined. Aro waved a hand dismissively.

"There will only be hell to pay if Bella here does not learn how to distance herself from your... troubling ways. Carlisle, please, pick!"

Carlisle sighed, and ran fingers through his hair.

"Really Aro, I must insist that this goes against everything we stand for."

"_I_ insist, Carlisle."

And when the leader of the Volturi _insisted_ that way, you found yourself bending to his rule.

Carlisle pointed towards Esme. By his gentle demeanor, Bella hoped he would treat Esme better than some past masters had.

"Floor four, room two, if you please, Carlisle," Aro directed.

The large one chose Rosalie, and that unsettled her. He was huge. He could cause severe pain, Bella was sure. She wanted to protect her sisters.

"Floor four, room three, thank you, Emmett is it?"

The young blond chose Alice without even throwing Bella a glance, and she couldn't get a proper reading off of that one. He was very quiet, and his eyes were a little shifty, like he was analyzing the room.

"Floor-"

"Four, room three, thanks Aro," Alice finished, and she stood behind her master obediently.

The bronze chose Bella.

"Floor four, room four." Bella could almost hear the unsaid 'good luck'.

She turned to lead her newest master towards the room where he would be staying. Masters had their own rooms, but they had the choice of staying with their slaves, or inviting their slaves to stay with them.

Bella preferred her own rooms- without her masters. The instant she stepped out of the room, she saw that Derrick had been waiting for her, standing just by the stairs, with his arms crossed. His eyes were furious. He turned and walked away quickly, towards the room Bella had just left.

Bella didn't mind. Derrick could be angry and sulk all he wanted.

_And you can't die_, she thought briefly. _That's a plus._


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I only really like the end of this chapter, with Rosalie, because I kind of find that I like a vulnerable Rose. This chapter didn't really flow well, though. I hope you like it, though. **

**Enjoy.  
**

**Chapter Three**

_Bella Swan_

He seemed awkward. Young. Older than me, of course, but he acted nervous.

Flour four took a lot of stairs, and with a few broken toes, it took me a while to make it up. My master was patient with me, keeping a few steps behind me. I'd like to think it was because he cared for my well being and was there in case I fell, but I knew better when it came to vampires.

We arrived at his room.

"My room is on the second floor, room thirteen. You are allowed in my room any time. There are several different floors, and many different rooms," I said apathetically.

I opened the door to his room, and held it open for him. He entered, and I smelled his cologne briefly. I ignored the fluttering it created in my stomach.

Edward walked in, and I closed the door behind him with a gentle click. I threw a sad glance towards the door, wondering when Alice and I were going to get our comeuppance for being so horrible during a Choosing, particularly one with guests that Aro wanted to impress.

And I still had Derrick to worry about.

"Is something...?" Edward trailed off, taking a seat on his bed. His room was decorated in greens, and shared many similar furniture items that mine had.

"Everything's fine, Master," I replied. I couldn't wait until I could really test the waters with this one, and see how far it took to get him really angry. It didn't take much with Derrick (but he was really quite funny to watch when he was angry. He would pace and growl like some animal).

"Calling me Master is unnecessary."

"Actually, it kinda is. I could get in a lot of trouble." Play like I actually cared.

"Calling me Master is _unwanted_."

Oh, he was pulling out his first piece of legislature as my all mighty and unforgiving Master. I saluted him, similarly to the way I saluted Aro. To my slight dismay, he just smiled a little, and offered me a seat with the wave of his hand.

We sat in an uncomfortable silence, but I tried to give off the air that I was completely content with sitting in the silence for as long as he wanted to. He broke it by coughing slightly to get my attention from the intricate wood work on the walls.

"I'm afraid that I don't really know much about this... situation works," he said, prompting me to explain.

"Each of the slaves here are sort of half vampire. We were all orally given venom, many against our wills, until we became..." I waved my hand up and down over my body as if to explain. "We can never run out of blood, so we serve as never ending snacks. Almost kind of clever, the more I think about it. We can't die. We don't normally drink blood- unless you'd like me to? No? Okay. We are here to serve in whatever way our masters would like."

"Can you have more than one Master at one time? How would that work?"

"Yes- and I do. His names Derrick. You might have noticed him when we came out of the Choosing room, he was the vampire with steam coming out of his ears-"

"Yes, he was quite hard to miss. He was practically screaming his thoughts at me- he's very angry with you."

I was perplexed for a moment.

"His thoughts?"

"Oh, yes, I'm a mind reader."

I was frightened by this, and tried to cover it up in my thoughts with anger.

"If you can read minds, why did you need to ask to know about the whole slave thing? Were you just trying to be irritating?"

He grinned mockingly, and he was really quite beautiful, if you got straight down to it. I blushed insanely, praying he hadn't heard this thought.

"I needed to ask because for some reason I can't read yours."

I breathed a sigh of relief, wiping a little nervous perspiration from my forehead. Edward's eyes trailed my hand as I did so. I ignored it.

"Are there a lot of people you can't read?"

"No. Just one." He stared at me pointedly. "I got from Aro's mind though, that he can't see your thoughts either, with his power."

"Oh, yeah," I said, waving a hand dismissively. "That's old news."

We sat in silence, once more. I was shocked at how much of an actual conversation I was having with him. Me and Derrick's conversations usually consisted of him giving orders and me arguing them.

"You never answered my question."

My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to remember exactly what that had been.

"The one about multiple masters. How does that work?"

"Oh, you just obey the command given first."

"Do you have to obey everything?" There was an odd expression on his face. I paused a moment before answering, trying to understand exactly what it was. When I couldn't, I just answered.

"Yes." I smirked a little at how unhelpful the answer was, really.

"So, if I asked you to jump off the balcony?" He motioned to the double doors which led out onto the terrace.

I stood. "Now is that a real command or are you just talking hypothetically?"

"Hypothetically- but I think that gives me the answer," and he smiled a little.

"How do you usually serve your Masters?" He asked, leaning back on the bed, cushioning his head with his arms.

"With my blood or body."

He sat up so quickly that I didn't see it. I was use to random displays of power from my Masters, so this didn't shock me so much. I'd once seen a girls body torn in half during a fit of anger from her Master. That had haunted my dreams, as reluctant as I was to admit it.

"Is that an open invitation?" He snapped, and his tone wounded me a little.

"Duh," I snapped back. I held both my wrists out face up just to taunt him. He glanced at the fresh wound on my wrist and turned his head away in disgust.

"Get out," he hissed, looking as though he was attempting to sleep.

"Whatever you say, Master," I hissed back, and stomped out of the room, my bare feet slapping on the floor harshly, hurting my broken toe. I didn't care much. I ignored that nasty feeling of hurt that was in my gut, whether I wanted it there or not. This new Master of mine was a real ass, pretty or not.

The instant Edward's door closed behind me, I was met with the face of my other Master, twisted in fury. He looked demonic. Never had I seen him more like a vampire.

"Isabella," he said, sadly. His fingers wrapped around my wrist, and he jerked me forward, towards him. I didn't resist.

"Yes, Master?" I asked, trying to keep the tiredness out of my voice.

He tilted my head up with one of his hands, and ran his nose along the curve of my neck, inhaling deeply, and giving out a deep groan of satisfaction.

"You smell so.. _good_."

Beautiful vocabulary. The thing every girl wanted to hear.

He bit down quite suddenly, and we were walking as he fed, his head tilted uncomfortably into my neck, as he drew the life blood out of me, swallowing it down quickly, as more refilled his needy mouth. My feet were unsteady with nerves and by the time we made it to his room, he was practically dragging me along. I thinking of all the synonyms of 'good' that I could possible come up with.

The thought that, well, at least _he_ wanted me, entered my mind unwanted, and was forced back to the deep depths of it as quickly as I could shove it. Getting emotionally involved with a Master was bad business, even if it was just frustration, or negative feelings. Aro wouldn't like it.

I didn't like the thought of it, myself.

Derrick, who had the courtesy to escort me to my room, left when he was finished (and that was actually something I liked about Derrick, he was never in the mood for sex with a creature less than a vampire. Too messy, so he said), and it was only minutes later that I hear a soft knock on my door.

"I know that knock," I called out. "The doors open."

It was Rosalie who entered, looking close to tears.

I sat up from my bed quickly, ignoring the stain of blood that was on the blue comforter.

"Rose, what happened?" My heart was beating fast. Rosalie was usually one of the strongest of us, the least emotional. There were only certain things that could break through her hard exterior.

"Bella," she said, and her lips quivered. She sat down heavily in one of my chairs, and patted her blond hair down. "Am I pretty?"

"Of course. Prettier than most everyone in this castle."

This seemed to upset her more than help her, and she finally did dissolve into tears, wiping them away as they fell. Her eyeliner ran.

"Is there something wrong with me?"

I finally stood from my bed, and pattered across the floor, to kneel on the hard wood floor and wrap my arms around her thin shoulders, and give her a hug.

"Of course not- what did Alice say this time?"

Rosalie took a heaving breath, and I noticed her arms were around me too.

"It wasn't Alice- it was Emmett."

I leaned back, puzzled.

"Who's Emmett?"

"My new Master," Rosalie mumbled, and she seemed to be getting a hold of herself.

My eyes narrowed, and my arms crossed across my breasts, as I leaned back to look her in the eye. Her eyes were red and puffy.

"What'd he do? Should I talk to Aro?"

Rosalie let out a frustrated laugh.

"Talking to Aro doesn't do shit, Bella. And Emmett didn't do _anything_."

"Then, babe, what's the problem?"

She threw me a pleading glance, and looked down at her stained fingertips, stained, from wiping her eyeliner.

"Try to keep up, Bella. He didn't do anything- your Master drank from you. Emmett just tossed me out on my ass," her lips were quivering again.

_Oh_. That explained a lot. She was feeling rejected. All the little pieces finally fell into place.

"Rose- Edward didn't crack! Derrick did this," I placed a hand on my throbbing neck. My fingers became wet with my blood, and I removed them quickly, not looking at them, and wiping them quickly on my already soiled shirt.

"Oh," she answered. "That makes me feel better."

I couldn't help it, I burst into laughter, tossing my head back and letting the sound of it fill the room. I cackled for a long while, just grinning like a maniac.

When I came down from my spontaneous high, I saw Rosalie staring at me like I was insane. She snorted.

"Your crazy."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Happy late Memorial Day (and special thanks to my grandfather George, who passed many, many years ago, for serving our country). Perhaps some OOCness in this chapter, and if so, I'm sorry. To someone who asked a question about my updating (yes, to ME it looked like I've updated three times, four now, since 07, and I don't blame you for being impatient with me, heh). I'm definitely back and as determined as ever to finish this story.**

**By the way- I'm never going to get descriptive with the rape that happens (because ALL of the sex between the slaves and their Masters isn't completely consensual, per say). But perhaps there will be lemons later on, between a few select characters. Hm?**

**Enjoy!  
**

**Chapter Four**

_Bella Swan_

"Finally! You see it too!" Alice's voice called from the door, and Esme entered closely behind her. I saw to my pleasure, that both were wound free. "I noticed Bella was insane _years_ ago!"

I scowled a little, and crossed my arms, deciding to lay down on my bed for the upcoming conversation. I was feeling tired.

"Rose! What's wrong?" Esme cried, and she drew one of my squishy armchairs next to Rosalie, to wrap an arm around her. Alice jumped up onto the bed with me, and chose to lay with her head by my feet. She was so short, her feet only reached my shoulders.

Rosalie had managed to wipe her cheeks clean in the micro-seconds we had as Alice and Esme entered. Her puffy eyes were the only reminders of her break down.

"Nothing at all," she answered smoothly.

"Did the blonds crack?" I asked quickly when I saw Esme's mouth open, preparing to comment.

Alice sighed and rolled on her back to stare up at the ceiling, and prop her hands behind her head. Her toenails were painted a neon pink.

"Despite the fact that they say blonds have more fun- there was nothing funny going on in me or Esme's rooms."

Esme confirmed this with a nod.

"We've had stubborn animal-drinkers before. They come with golden eyes, but they don't leave with them!" Rosalie said, seeming to have regained all of her confidence. I couldn't tell if it was an act, or if our talk had really renewed her strength.

"True," I answered, neutrally.

"Carlisle won't crack," Esme said. "He's been denying his thirst for years."

"Jasper will, I just have to try harder."

I closed my eyes, wondering myself about Edward. Would he crack? Did I even _want_ him to?

"Doesn't the fact that we want them to drink from us make us a little... _hypocritical?_"

Rosalie shrugged to me.

"I don't think so. It's not like we have anything better to do for eternity. And it's not the-" she stopped suddenly, and her lips tightened. Her hand went to her hair, smoothing it down in an unconscious action. It was already smooth.

"We don't have much else to exist for," Alice provided, seeing Rosalie's odd expression.

There was a knock on my door.

"It's open!" I called. The only people who ever knocked on my door were other slaves, but it was Emmett's hulking mass that stood in the doorway.

I sat up, feeling as if I should do _something_, but being unsure of what I could do. Emmett could eat me whole. Perhaps literally.

But as he entered the room, I saw he wasn't alone, his huge frame was just blocking the others that were standing right behind them. It was all of our recently acquired Masters, with varying expressions.

"Okay- I'm not throwing a party here, alright? I can't order my Master out- but the rest of you have no right to be here unwelcome," I said.

"I say they can be here," Edward said smoothly.

My teeth gnashed angrily as I sat down on my bed, crossing my arms viciously. It was a little risky going against my Master when I didn't know exactly what he was capable of, or his boiling point.

"Yes, _Master,_" I hissed, and he frowned at the emphasis.

"We didn't come to make a scene," Carlisle said, standing in the middle of both of our groups (which had moved to opposite sides of the rooms). "We may be vampires, but we pride ourselves on our humanity, and Jasper told me all of you were feeling a little rejected."

My cheeks blazed red under my fellow sisters scrutiny, but I kept my unforgiving gaze on Edward.

"All of us have made promises to ourselves, and to each other that we would never give into our more selfish desires, and drink human blood. We don't intentionally want to hurt you girls, but we are sticking to our morals, and what we feel is right. Just because we don't drink your blood-" and I honestly felt this last part was being directed towards Esme, but maybe I _was_ a little crazy- "doesn't mean we don't want to."

I looked at Edward, and felt like that didn't apply to him at all. He seemed completely disgusted by me, for being a slave.

Carlisle looked at Rosalie, and smiled. "I'm sorry if Emmett hurt your feelings-"

Rosalie scoffed, and I could feel that our entire previous conversation definitely fell under the category of 'never happened'.

"I _am_ sorry," Emmett said. "I hope you aren't one to hold a grudge." He smiled a little.

Rosalie's lips twitched ever so slightly, and she nodded in a tired (but shocked) manner, showing he was forgiven. I doubt Rosalie had ever been treated so kindly by a Master. I doubt any of us had, really.

The thought of Derrick on his knees, begging for forgiveness made me smile a little.

"I'm hungry," Alice said suddenly, and I chuckled a little despite my previous anger towards my Master, and grinned at her, before looking pointedly at Edward.

"Are we allowed to leave? Master?" I tacked the title on quickly. Edward nodded, but caught my wrist on the way out.

"I'm sorry I had to enforce the whole 'Master' thing, but it was important, what Carlisle had to say."

"Yeah," I said dismissively, as I tried to move around him, towards the door. "I'm hungry, so if that's all you request? _Master?_"

Edward nodded, frowning.

"Hey- well, we're hungry too, you know-" Emmett said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively

"Take that up with your own slave," I muttered. I heard Alice's cackling laughter all the way down the hall, rolled my eyes, and followed her quickly.

I heard a thud, and I'd like to believe that perhaps it was Edward smacking Emmett upside his head, but I couldn't be sure.

_Edward Cullen_

I slapped Emmett harshly upside the head, and he turned, grinning, ready for a fight in return.

"Emmett, we can't drink their blood. Did you go deaf for that entire speech Carlisle just made?" I asked, crossing my arms.

_-really quite hilarious. The jokester, probably. I should talk to him soon, see if maybe he has any idea of how to prank Bella. Subtly, of course. Subtle is the key..._

I smiled a little as Alice's thoughts finally drifted away, and managed to ignore the thoughts of my family, trying to give them their own form of privacy from my power.

"Edward is right, Emmett. This is what we have been preparing ourselves for. If a situation such as this came up- alright, perhaps not exactly like this- but you see my point, we could control ourselves," Carlisle answered.

Emmett stalked out of the room, muttering angrily under his breath;

"Maybe I don't _want _to control myself with Rosalie."

I ignored him, and began the walk back to my room, idly listening to the thoughts of the other occupants of the rooms surrounding me.

I thought of Bella. She was beautiful, and had such fire in her. And I couldn't read her thoughts- that was maddening. What was the use of this power if I couldn't use it on the one person I wanted most to know more about?

The way she defied Aro, and instinctively wanted to protect her friends and fellow slaves was noble. Slave. The thoughts I heard from her other 'Master' were disgusting. I'd seen thoughts of him having sex with her. Was it consensual? Did she somehow return the favor that he so obviously held for her? I felt a little angry with her, if that was the case. She couldn't be stupid enough to actually like him.

Or I hoped so.

I angrily brushed away my thoughts, trying (and struggling) to dismiss Bella as just another human (despite the fact she wasn't all human).

I found her other 'Master' standing outside my bedroom door, leaning against the frame. His eyes were narrowed, and gleamed like rubies. He'd fed freshly. From Bella, I could see. She hadn't resisted.

"May I help you?" I asked, forcing politeness into my tone. He pushed away from the door frame. He was a few inches shorter than me, but seemed to have quite a bit more muscle. He was dressed in stylish black clothing.

He tossed his blond hair out of his eyes.

"Yes, you can. I want you to leave my Isabella alone."

"I don't want your Isabella." And I certainly didn't want to acknowledge the horrible feeling that bloomed in the pit of my stomach as I said that.

He shook his head angrily.

"I am warning you, you vegetarian idiot, to leave Isabella alone. Don't talk to her, think about her- anything!" He said, and he turned to go.

"Perhaps she doesn't want me to leave her so alone?" I said, definitely more for the purpose of making him angry, than it being true. Bella seemed to hate me.

He turned around, with a renewed fire in her eyes.

"She could never have feelings for you!" He spat. "I have been her Master for months- we share a bond!"

I merely laughed, knowing that answering wasn't best, and entered my room, closing the door on him, but not on his stormy thoughts, that raged until he was many floors away from me.

I threw myself down on the bed in my room, and closed my eyes, wishing that I was human (or human enough) to sleep again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Rambling: I know, where have I been? Why haven't I updated? All my excuses are horrible, so take this as a peace offering? Thank you for the kind reviews. I dislike most of this chapter, but it's better than nothing.**

**Enjoy!  
**

**Chapter Five**

_Bella Swan_

I'd say the dining room for the slaves was one of my favorite places in the whole castle. The way the room always seemed at least half full, and was always so packed with good smells and chatter was comforting. It reminded me of home, in America.

The table in the far corner of the room was ours, mostly because it only had four chairs, and there were only the four of us. All the other tables had five or six chairs. We always figured that one day, a slave before us had simply taken one chair away, and sat at a different table, and had been too lazy to bring the chair back. But we always sat there. Every day.

We grabbed food, and I did too even though I wasn't hungry, and sat down at our table. I stared down at the celery I had gotten angrily. I hated celery. I picked up my fork and speared the nasty green vegetable, enjoying the satisfying _crack_ it made.

"Hey-" Alice said, pulling the celery off of the end of my fork and popping it into her mouth. "It never did anything to you."

I sat down my fork, and turned my eyes to Rosalie.

"Why did you just forgive him like that?"

"Forgive who?" She asked, pouring ranch dressing all over her salad, and eying the remainder of the celery on my plate.

"Emmett," I said. I didn't say anything else. The episode that had taken place before in my room was never to be mentioned again, but I was curious. And I deserved an answer.

Rosalie sat her fork down slowly, squaring her shoulders.

"I have no idea what you mean," she said slowly, and her eyebrows rose fractionally. Her blue eyes told me to drop it. My brown eyes narrowed at her.

Alice and Esme watched with interested expressions.

"You were mad at Emmett?" Alice asked.

I answered 'yes', in the same instant Rosalie answered 'no'. Both of us sounded firm, but also as if we were trying to convince the other.

The table was silent for a minute of two, and eventually Rosalie picked up her fork again, and stole the last of the celery off my plate, dipping it in her dressing, before eating it; eying me angrily. She was daring me to continue.

I didn't want to start trouble with her- I was usually the peacemaker. But there was something that made my blood boil when it came to Edward and his coven. Or maybe it was just Edward. Yeah, that made more sense. I hated all of my masters. Edward was no exception, he was just exceptionally more irritating. And good looking. But didn't _everything_ evil and despicable in the world have some level of temptation about them?

"I don't know why you're denying it. I think Edward's a jerk, and I'm not afraid to say it."

"Not all of us are as foolish as you, Bella," Rosalie bit out, pushing her chair away from the table to cross her arms.

Hot tears filled my eyes. I blushed.

"So that's what you think I am? Foolish?"

"Yeah," Rosalie said. Her eyes held a cool fury. "You're like a child. You never want to take responsibility for anything, and you're always denying what you really are! What we all are! _Slaves!_"

She stood, slamming her napkin down on the table top, before turning and stomping away, her shoes making severe clicking noises with every step she took. Other slaves had turned in their seats to watch, and they eyed us for a while even after Rosalie's exit, until the excitement died down.

"Am I really...?" I asked, trailing off.

"No, course not, Bella," Esme said compassionately. "Rosalie doesn't mean half of what she says! She's just angry."

"Yeah, don't listen to her. She has a stick shoved up her ass-"

"Alice," Esme hissed.

"What?" Alice shrugged. "It's true. I know she had an unhappy childhood, so did I! We turned out exact opposites, and it only proves that you don't need to be bitter all the time."

"You don't mean that," I said weakly. "Rose is your friend-"

"Of course she is. I love her. It doesn't mean I have to agree with her. She didn't even finish her salad." Alice leaned over to grab it off of the table, and dump it out onto her plate, shoveling it down quickly, as if Rosalie would turn around and walk back in at any moment and fight her for it.

"Chew with your mouth closed," I said tiredly, tossing my own napkin down. I left the dining all, headed for the gardens.

The gardens were my all time favorite place in the castle. The vampires who took care of them had nothing but time to carefully prune and nurture plants. Every possible surface in the castle always had some fresh flowers on them.

The gardens were massive. Laying in an ark around the east side of the castle, I frequently woke up early just to stand in them and watch the sun rise over the gray stone walls of the castle. The castle had few windows. Many vampires really didn't care for the sunlight, even if it didn't hurt them.

Being dead was a really sucky reason, so I thought.

I opened the thick door that kept out the severe August heat in Italy, and was hit with the smell of flowers- some so exotic that their names were unheard of. The colors were vibrant and of every range.

I settled myself on a bench to watch the birds that would settle on the broad tops of the wall that surrounded the entire castle. I wondered what was on the outside of that wall. Were things very different, in the years I had been gone? Had the entire world changed? Or were things in America the same? I wanted to go home to America, and never come back to Italy ever again.

It was only in the garden where I really dreamed of going back to my home in the States, and it made me feel like crying every time I thought of it; it really did.

After a while it got too hot, and my skin felt tight from being sunburned, so I went inside, headed for my room. I was sure that Rosalie would be there, lounging on my bed, reading some fashion magazine that she had brought with her from the 'before times' as I called them. It would be outdated, and probably completely memorized, but she would flip through it anyway. We would pretend like it never happened, even though it would sting at me for a while. It was just our nature.

But Rosalie wasn't in my room, so I laid on my bed, and ignored the fact that I was hungry, even though I had gone to breakfast only an hour before. I waited for her to knock and come in.

After a while, when there was no knock, I actually began to cry; even further after that, I fell asleep.

_Edward Cullen_

She was an incredibly intrusive thought. Whether I was trying to read in my room, listening to music, or attempting to have a conversation with someone in my family, something sarcastic she would have said would worm it's way into my brain, and I would feel the old sting of anger in the pit of my stomach. She was so hot-tempered, so insolent, so innocent-

But I didn't much like using that last word to describe her, so I pushed it away.

But she really was quite annoying, the more I thought of it. Her way of taking something that was said in the most innocent (there was that word again) manner, and twisting it into something rude, was astonishing.

I didn't like the way she treated Carlisle, either. Brushing off his words the way she did. Carlisle was such a good man; so much better than myself. When he spoke, people should listen.

The more I thought of her, the more I realized that she was actually quite entertaining. The longer that thought festered in my mind, the more I came to the conclusion that I definitely wanted to find her; fluster her, until she got angry again; because there was something in that angry hue of her cheeks that was quite hilarious.

So I searched for her. Walking the halls, until I found where her room was. Her scent was easy to track. Very floral. Very appetizing. But_ that _thought was just as unwanted as her innocence, so I pushed it away too.

I knocked on her door, and didn't receive an answer. I could hear her breathing, hear her heart, like a steady thrum through the door, but she seemed to be ignoring me.

I opened her door anyway, hoping to frustrate her, only to find she was asleep.

Her face was streaked with dry tears, and I felt a little ashamed for some reason. She seemed to hate me, and I hoped that I had not been the one to cause her to cry.

"Rosalie."

She startled me- her eyes were closed, but apparently she was awake.

"No, Edward."

"Rosalie. 'm not foolish," she mumbled into her pillow, before rolling over.

Oh. _Oh_. She spoke in her sleep. Apparently, things were in discontent with her friend Rosalie (Emmett's slave, I realized, no matter how much I despised the word, really). She seemed much more human, worrying over her relationship with her friend.

"What do you think of Edward?" I asked, wondering if she would actually answer.

There wasn't any, and I was a little disappointed.

I turned to leave. There was no use just watching her sleep.

My hand was on the doorknob when I heard her stir.

"Jackass."

My head whirled around, and I shook with silent laughter. Jackass, I would have to remember that one.

"But so _hot_," she groaned, rolling even further.

A raised eyebrow was my only reply this time, and I left the room, pausing outside her door to ponder her last words.

She found me attractive. Well, of course. Vampires all had a look of perfection about them. But she wasn't fooled- I was quite the monster (jackass), and even in her subconscious, she knew it.

I walked away much more depressed than when I had entered. I was halfway back to my room when I turned around quickly, and began in the opposite direction, sniffing the air for the person I sought.

I found her in a room, and when I knocked and she granted me entrance, I realized it was her own room, not her masters (thankfully, that could have gone quite awkward).

She was combing her blond hair, and seemed quite dressed up, but with bloodshot eyes.

"Uh-" she seemed confused with my presence. "Bella's room is two floors up."

"I know. I just saw her. She's really sorry, for what she did. You're one of her best friends, she said. She's worried that you two will never make up. She's sorry for being- foolish?" I lied very convincingly, trying to give the air that Isabella hadn't fully explained things to me.

_Well that's a first. Bella's never really tried to apologize, before. She's so stubborn. Usually we just... make up. I was too hard on her. I shouldn't have said those things to her- stupid of her to think though, that we would never make up, we're practically sisters for God's-_

"She hopes you two will be like sisters again. Well, I should be going." I made for the door, but paused. "Oh, and don't tell her I was here, she was very stubborn in the fact that I wasn't to say anything."

I closed the door, and grinned, walking with a strange new happiness.

I passed it off as now, _I_ would be the only one annoying Isabella.


End file.
